The Sun Rising by John Donne: Summary, Analysis & Themes

Table of Contents Cite This Article × Cite This Article Choose a citation style and copy the reference. MLA 9 APA 7 Chicago Copy Citation Poetry Key Information Central Message: Love, when it's real, makes the outside world — kings, empires, even the sun itself — feel small and beside the point. Two people in bed together can be the whole of everything that matters. Speaker: A witty, self-assured lover, irritated at being woken, who talks to the sun as if it were an over-eager servant who doesn't know its place. Poetic Form: Three ten-line stanzas, in the aubade tradition — but flipped, since the speaker refuses to let the morning end the night. Themes: Love's supremacy over time and the world, the intimacy of the bedroom as a universe, wit as a form of intimacy. Emotions: Playful annoyance sliding into tenderness, then into a kind of triumphant, teasing generosity. Time Period: Written in the 1590s or early 1600s; first published in 1633, after Donne's death. Published Category: Appe…